Chapter 254. To Become Stronger
After the victory at Shalyh, the Cassiubia League and humanity’s situation changed dramatically. First of all, the Demon Empire backed away at the cost of giving up 20% of their territory. Though they suffered huge losses, it had been the best decision to make. The total number of great demons they lost was six, including two in the single-digit ranks, who wouldn’t have been defeated so easily under any other circumstances. And taking into consideration the annihilation of their troops, the damages done were astronomical. As internal strife exacerbated the chaos, the Demon Empire could no longer even dream of fighting on both sides. They would be too busy protecting the territory they already had.
The second change was that Shalyh city had some breathing room now. After the Demon Empire was forced to give up large portions of its territory, Shalyh was no longer right next to the Demon Empire. Though the territories beyond the city still couldn’t be considered territories of the Cassiubia League and humanity, the expansion at least guaranteed a safe buffer around the city.
The third change was related to the second point, and it was the fact that the Cassiubia League had completely embraced the humans as their own. Humans could now venture to wherever the Cassiubia League governed, including the Cassiubia mountain range, and receive equal treatment as the members of the League. If their relationship could be likened to two people simply joining hands before, now they were like family members who welcomed and hugged one another. Beyond partners who simply worked together, the bond between them was now sturdy like blood ties.
The fact that after the Demon Empire’s withdrawal, the path connecting Shalyh city to the mountain range opened up played a factor in this; but the biggest factor was how the humans proved themselves in this recent war. The League had accepted collaborative management of Shalyh because of Chi-Hyun alone, but with this recent event, they judged that the rest of the humans had the fighting capabilities to be their equals. In response, the humans also allowed members of the League to meet the White Horse General and shared the growth system in greater shares. Though the Cassiubia League and humanity were still separate groups, with this, they were now in this world together.
Finally, the fourth and last change happened recently, which was something neither the Cassiubia League nor the humans would have expected. From the Celestial Realm, the ninth recruits arrived—not in some dangerous place, but safely into the holy city, Shalyh.
***
The city was still noisy from the arrival of the ninth recruits, but Chi-Woo stayed stuck in his room all day and came out only around dawn. Though he suffered the past couple of days, not much had changed for him personally since then. There was still no call or message from his brother, and the situation was the same as before. Chi-Woo felt frustrated, but knowing that nothing would change if he just moped around in his room, he crawled outside.
He went to the veranda and felt the dawn’s cool air when he encountered a person he didn’t expect to see.
“Ms. Eshnunna?”
The woman holding a basin was the fallen nation, Salem’s princess: Eshnunna.
“Oh…it’s been a while, sir.”
“Yes, hello.”
Eshnunna greeted Chi-Woo with a bow. Then she quickly walked past him and went up the veranda. Chi-Woo watched as Eshnunna placed the basin on the veranda and wiped the floor with a squeezed-out cloth.
“What are you doing, Ms. Eshnunna?” Chi-Woo asked.
“I’m cleaning.”
“Why? And so suddenly?”
“What do you mean? I do it because I’m told to. It’s not like it’s my first or second time doing this either,” Eshnunna said nonchalantly as she continued to wipe the floor.
“Not the first or second time…?” Chi-Woo became even more confused. Now that he thought about it, he had been too busy with expeditions and big incidents that came one after another that he didn’t bother to clean up his place, but the house was always clean and sanitary. Still, he didn’t expect Eshnunna to be the reason for it at all.
“I never asked you to clean though….” Chi-Woo said.
“You didn’t.”
“?”
“I’m not doing it for you.”
It was then Chi-Woo felt something was off.
“Did you not hear anything?” Eshnunna asked.
Chi-Woo nodded. He swore that he didn’t hear a word about this.
“Well, it has been a long time since we even saw each other,” Chi-Woo answered.
“Ah…that’s true. You were very busy these days, and I only came when you were sleeping. But anyways, why did you come out so early today?”
Chi-Woo looked even more puzzled. He couldn’t keep up with the conversation at all, so he asked a question that could answer all his curiosities.
“Who asked you to do this?”
“Not asked, but ordered.”
“So, who was it?”
“That’s—” Eshnunna paused and turned around when she heard the door close and footsteps making their way toward them.
“What’s all…this noise…?” Evelyn came outside while rubbing her eyes. Then Chi-Woo watched in astonishment as the two women interacted.
“You are awake, Lady Evelyn.”
“Yes… You’re here early today. I’m going to wash and go outside, so please take care of my room too…”
“I will clean it up before you return.”
“Also, I’m going to be busy these days, so…”
“Yes, my lady.”
As Evelyn gave orders, she appeared like the princess, while Eshnunna was the servant—though, of course, statuses didn’t mean much in the current situation. Then Evelyn’s eyes landed on Chi-Woo, who was watching them.
“You also woke up early today,” Evelyn said and asked, “Did you finish moping around?”
“What’s all this?”
“Huh?”
“Why is Ms. Eshnunna…?” Chi-Woo asked, and Evelyn gasped in realization.
“Oh yeah, did I not tell you?”
“Yes.”
“Something big happened right after you came back so…I forgot.”
“Could you tell me now?”
“Hm~” Evelyn tilted her head and smiled sweetly. “No.”
“Why?”
“You don’t tell me things either.” It seemed Evelyn was talking about the mysterious ability Chi-Woo had in his user information that she kept asking about.
“That’s because…”
“No. You are clearly hiding something from me. I’m not going to tell you what’s going on until you tell me first. It’s only fair.” Evelyn stuck out her tongue and kept taunting, ‘I bet you are so curious. Aren’t you curious?’ Then she turned around. It seemed she was returning to her room to get ready to go out. But while walking, she said, “Anyways, don’t worry since it’s nothing bad. Why don’t you also do some activities since you’re already outside?”
“…Where are you going?”
“I’m going to the temple. Don’t you know how busy I’ve been recently?”
Chi-Woo shook his head, and Evelyn clicked her tongue.
“I suppose you don’t. I bet you don’t even know what’s going on right now.”
“I heard about the general details…”
“No one would scold you for resting after a big war. But you aren’t even resting properly. Seriously, what are you doing? Just brooding and looking all miserable. It’s really not a good look,” Evelyn said.
Chi-Woo blinked hard. It seemed Evelyn had a couple of things to say about his current attitude. He scratched his head and asked, “Was it that bad?”
“Of course—” Evelyn snorted and added, “For my heart, it was…?” She winked and continued walking. Chi-Woo stared blankly as she left.
“!”
Then he exclaimed in surprise. He didn’t know when she first arrived, but Hawa was standing near him with an expressionless face.
“Ms. Hawa?”
“I have a message from Goddess La Bella,” she got to the point immediately after they met eyes. “As soon as you finish organizing your thoughts, come and find me. I’ll be waiting.”
“Goddess La Bella said that?”
“Yes, she did.” Then Hawa got off the veranda, put her shoes back on, and headed outside. It seemed she also had something to do early at dawn. Chi-Woo watched as Hawa quickly grew farther away. The war was over, yet everyone looked busy..com
“I…” Chi-Woo gnawed on his lip. A feeling he couldn’t put into words crept back to him. He recalled what Shersha had told him: there was a postponement, but his definite future didn’t change. Chi-Woo felt like he was wasting precious time he couldn’t afford to waste.
***
He couldn’t continue like this. He needed to do something, but Chi-Woo didn’t know what to do. After lengthy contemplation, Chi-Woo decided to go talk to his brother in the end. Since he was at fault, Chi-Woo thought it was right for him to seek out his brother first. Chi-Woo thought he wouldn’t get a good welcome since his brother didn’t even reply to his messages, but he headed to the official residence where Chi-Hyun was. Chi-Woo wondered if Chi-Hyun would even open the door for him, but he happened to run into his brother in front of the building’s entrance. It seemed Chi-Hyun was just coming to work since it was still early in the morning.
“Oh…hey.” Chi-Woo murmured when he saw Chi-Hyun. There were many things he wanted to say. First of all, he wanted to talk about what happened pretty recently. And if their conversation went well and their relationship recovered, Chi-Woo planned to ask Chi-Hyun to use his Image Representation ability again. But now that he was standing face-to-face with his brother, his mouth felt stuck.
Chi-Hyun’s eyes and expression didn’t change from the time before. He looked at Chi-Woo like he was staring at a complete stranger. It seemed Chi-Hyun had told the truth when he said he wouldn’t see Chi-Woo as a brother anymore if he crossed the line.
“Well…the thing is…”
Chi-Hyun’s eyes narrowed as Chi-Woo failed to continue. Then Chi-Hyun put his hand inside his sleeve before taking it out.
Thud!
Chi-Woo instinctively closed his eyes as something flew and collided with his face. Then he hesitantly opened his eyes again and saw a seven-sided die rolling on the ground. There was also a talisman flapping down from the air. Chi-Woo’s eyes widened when he saw the World’s Milestone and the talisman his master gave him.
“No, I didn’t come for these things—”
But Chi-Hyun didn’t listen anymore. He passed by Chi-Woo and opened the entrance door. Bam!
Before Chi-Woo could say another word, the door shut roughly, slamming against the frame so hard that Chi-Woo’s bangs was swept away by the resulting wind. He was clearly not welcomed. Chi-Woo felt stunned and after a while, he bit his lip bitterly. His heart seemed to boil like lava, and his face, ears, and neck became all red. Chi-Woo knew that he was at fault, but after being treated the way Chi-Hyun did to him just now, he thought his brother had taken things too far. It was as if Chi-Hyun was telling him, ‘Shut up and don’t ever come back since I never want to see your face again.’
Chi-Woo clenched his jaw and picked up the World’s Milestone and the talisman with shaking hands. While he did this, his rage didn’t disappear, but only accumulated.
“Huh?” It was then he heard a familiar voice.
“Why are you standing in front of the door?” Apoline asked. It seemed she had matters to attend to in this building. And Chi-Woo inhaled deeply and nodded in response. He quietly moved away from the door. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now and hoped Apoline would just go on her way. Unfortunately, she thought otherwise.
“What are you doing? Come in. Didn’t you come here for something?” Apoline asked. Then after some hesitation, she reached out to grab Chi-Woo’s arm and pulled him through the door. The silence continued inside the building. Though Apoline had let go of Chi-Woo, she kept rolling her feet on the ground like she had something to say.
Then seeing that Chi-Woo wasn’t going to speak up, Apoline fake-coughed and said, “Um…Hm, hm! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“…” There was still no answer from Chi-Woo. His breathing had become harsher by now. But not knowing how he was feeling, Apoline licked her dry lips and asked, “Huh…Mr. Chi-Woo?” Then, with a voice that sounded like she had mustered up great courage, she asked, “D-Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“…What do I have to say to you?” Chi-Woo finally spoke, but Apoline was taken aback by how angry he sounded. It was then she realized that Chi-Woo’s expression didn’t look good.
“No. I just…” Apoline looked flustered, but when she saw Chi-Woo sigh, her eyes turned bloodshot. ‘…What? Does he not even want to talk to me now? No, why do I even have to consider how this guy feels? I didn’t do anything wrong.’ And after thinking this, Apoline regained her original demeanor and demanded boldly.
“Was it fun for you?”
Chi-Woo still didn’t answer, enraging Apoline further.
“Yes~ I suppose you must have had a really good laugh, covering your identity and all that. Hm?”
“…”
“As a member of the Choi family, you must’ve laughed about how ridiculous and absurd we seemed. Even I would’ve thought it was funny. Ha! I bet you got a real kick out of tricking us.”
Chi-Woo inhaled and exhaled deeply again. His head was already in a mess, but what was Apoline going on about now? He wanted Apoline to leave this instant, but he tried with all his might to be patient and forced out:
“I. Had. My. Circumstances.” Chi-Woo enunciated each word clearly. “It was personal, so please stop.” His tone wasn’t pleasant as it reflected his current mood.
“Please stop?” Apoline had the quickwittedness to catch onto what Chi-Woo meant by those two words. Her lips turned twisted as she spoke, “Ah~ your own circumstances~” She crossed her arms and glared at him, “And what are those circumstances?”
“…”
“Ha, I guess you can’t even tell me that.” Apoline snorted. “There’s nothing more I can say when it’s oh so personal. And if the youngest son of the Choi family wants to have his fun, how dare I say otherwise?”
Chi-Woo’s face shook, but without noticing it, Apoline continued in a mocking tone, “I’m so envious. It must have been so nice—”
“Gah, who said I had a nice time!” Chi-Woo yelled in a deafening roar. “It wasn’t fun! Not a lick of it!”
Apoline flinched and hiccupped at the abrupt shouting. Her eyes turned wide in surprise.
“You think I do this for fun…!” But Chi-Woo’s voice settled down because of the serious look on Apoline’s gaping face.
Then, sometime later, her eyes brimmed with tears.
“Why…Why do you have to get so angry though…?” She managed to blurt out in a trembling voice. “You are…the one at fault…”
Chi-Woo clenched his eyes shut and walked away like he couldn’t bear the situation anymore.
Bam! And when he was at the door, he suddenly recalled how his brother had slammed the door shut and did the same. Seeing this, Apoline pouted, and one sorrowful teardrop trailed down her cheek.
—Creak…
Under the abuse of the two brothers, the building’s entrance door also made muffled cries.
***
At the same time, a man was looking through the window from inside the highest-level office in the official residence. It was Chi-Hyun, watching Chi-Woo leave while heaving hard. Unlike how he acted outside, Chi-Hyun didn’t look at peace as he watched his brother move further and further away. His expression could be described as concerned, and Chi-Hyun let out a long sigh.
“Does it bother you?” A voice spoke up from behind him. It was Noel. “If you are worried, you can still go after him.”
“What did you come here for?” Chi-Hyun cut her off and sat back at his desk.
“Young master also—”
“If you don’t have any business to discuss with me, you may leave.”
Thus, Noel didn’t say more about Chi-Woo and handed a bundle of paper to Chi-Hyun. “These are the reports about the ninth recruits.”
“I was informed that there wasn’t any member to keep my eye on.”
“That’s natural for you, sir. Unless there’s a hero of Ismile’s level, you wouldn’t blink an eye even if another Celestial Light came. But…” Noel pulled out a piece of paper from the pile. “I think you should look at this person.”
Chi-Hyun took the paper from her. He read through it indifferently, but then a look of surprise flickered in his eyes.
“She’s coming?” Chi-Hyun raised his head and asked. Noel nodded.
“Yes.”
“I was thinking about her, but…how? At the perfect time…?”
“She wishes to meet you. Should I tell her to come here?”
“Yes…no, I should go see her in person. Where is she right now?”
Unlike his usual self, Chi-Hyun hurriedly got up from his seat.